Line-up announced for Summer Streets 2021 - here's who's on the bill

The annual not-for-profit music, arts and community festival, which usually takes place in Sunderland every July, is unable to occur in its usual format due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

For 2021, the festival will host a range of events both online and in-person events in line with current Government guidelines.

The line-up for the festival, which is free to access, includes:

::Visceral North East heavy metalers, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs headline the first gig ever to be held in the new Pop Recs Ltd in High Street West, with support from experimental jazz trio Archipelago and Sunderland indie-punks Roxy Girls.

::Mercury Prize nominees Lanterns on the Lake perform an intimate, seated show at The Peacock with special guests Me Lost Me and Nadedja.

::Royal Northern Sinfonia, orchestra of Sage Gateshead, return to the festival for a special streamed performance of Mendelssohn’s ‘Italian’ Symphony, conducted by new Principal Conductor, Dinis Sousa.

::New York Brass Band bring their funky New Orleans sound to Roker seafront for a pop-up outdoor performance.

::A live performance and exclusive beatbox workshop for young people aged 9+ with four-time UK beatboxing champion, Grace Savage – presented in association with Chalk.

Other events include Born Lippy’s Poetry Slam, a friendly war of words between eight poets, hoping to win the audience vote and be crowned Born Lippy Summer Streets Slam Champion 2021.

There are also family-friendly, audio described, pop-up performances by female-led alternative circus company Lavrak Circus, who bring their UFO, the Beam Blaster to Seaburn; and Wildflower, a fun, floral, pop-up outdoor performance by Curious Arts who champion LGBTQIA+ arts.

Online events include the premiere of a specially commissioned documentary that follows the stories of the participants of Sunderland’s Young Musicians Project, a free group run by We Make Culture that offers young songwriters the chance have a go at music, meet like-minded young people and get songwriting support.

Award-winning composer Ben Lunn will work with students at Autism Able and with producers Portions For Foxes to create original music which will be released during the festival.

Sunderland-based Strange things? Collective will run an online creative journaling workshop, which can be accessed throughout the festival, giving a step by step guide through the process of artistically exploring what home means to you - through a mixture of writing, drawing, collage and more.

Summer Streets has also teamed up with Sunderland-based graphic designer Liam O’Neill, who has worked with Nike, TikTok and Adidas to name a few, to create a unique Instagram filter designed to bring Cliffe Park, the usual home of Summer Streets, to you, wherever you are.

Visual artist Josie Brookes will be illustrating the festival throughout the weekend via Instagram Live and the Summer Streets website.

Festival Director, Ross Millard, guitarist in Sunderland band The Futureheads, said: “It is really important to Summer Streets Festival that we are able to bring live music back to the programme this year. By hosting events both in-person and online, we hope that everyone will find a way to access and enjoy the festival.

“We’ve organised some very special gigs with some of the most exciting artists in the region, interactive workshops and local, national and international artists as part of the line-up. The festival is completely free to access and we’re hopeful that everyone will find something going on at Summer Streets that they can

get involved with.”

Summer Streets Festival 2021 is happening from Friday, July 16 – Monday, July 19 and will take place both online and offline with gigs, performances and workshops happening across locations in Sunderland, as well as on online platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

There is no cost to access the festival, all events are free, though in some cases tickets are required.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.